As the construction industry in Ireland shakes off the impact of a crushing recession, the cranes have started to appear again on the horizon in large numbers. All over the downtown area there are several large scale projects under construction, from office and residential buildings in Silicon Docks area, to student accommodation blocks and the massive DIT Grangegorman campus project in the north inner city.

Many of these projects are among the first to see the deployment of augmented reality as a tool for both concept creation and visualization, and for ongoing maintenance and facilities management functions. With the use of AR and VR there is the possibility to immerse oneself in a digital recreation of a real-world environment; something that offers a powerful opportunity in designing a building and enabling others to also get a sense of the concept.

A number of companies who have participated in ARVR Innovate in the past are among the leaders in technology solutions for the construction industry.

DAQRI

DAQRI are leaders in the deployment of their Smart Helmet for construction AR solutions. Below is a video showing how DAQRI and Autodesk partnered on integrating their BIM360 platform with DAQRI Smart Helmet. The AR application highlighted the dynamic benefits to on-site Mortenson Construction project managers in a complex hospital construction.

SOLUIS

Scottish company Soluis are another company who, in 2015, entered and won a competition organised by Innovate UK, the government agency which works to “find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy”.

Aimed at encouraging innovation around AR/VR, the competition encompassed themes such as Smart Construction and Immersive Retail, pairing the winners in each discipline with a different partner.

Winning the prize gave Soluis the opportunity to develop and trial a product called ‘InSite’ with Crossrail, which is Europe’s largest construction project, and involves the construction of a new rail line for Central London, which is due to open in 2018.

VUFRAME

Vuframe are a company that specialize in developing Apps to help at the end of the construction process, when real estate needs to be sold. They work with a number of leading software providers such as Vuforia to develop projects such as Discover THE MARK, the fifth-tallest building in Seattle and enjoy panorama views of Seattle’s skyline from four different floors.